When professionals in the construction and engineering landscape like Oluwaseun Jegede began to test concrete cubes on construction sites in Lagos state, he knew it was his take off point to someday represent the University of Bolton at the CIOB Northwest Hub’s Tomorrow’s Leaders Student Challenge. It was this 2022 experience that brought him face to face with the growing importance of embodied carbon in construction.

“I knew that if we wanted to reduce carbon in construction, we would need to look beyond the finished building and pay attention to the materials, processes and decisions that go into delivering a project,” he said, adding, “Coming from a construction background in Lagos, I had practical experience testing concrete cubes and seeing how much attention goes into achieving the required strength and quality of concrete. That experience made me appreciate that construction materials are not just about meeting specifications; they also have wider environmental implications,” says Jegede.

Before carbon became the subject of an academic competition, there were professionals who had encountered construction through the practical demands of building sites in Lagos. The works of such professionals involved testing concrete cubes to determine compressive strength, evaluating soil bearing capacity and checking pile integrity. These were not abstract engineering exercises. They were part of the everyday process of establishing whether construction materials and structural elements could meet the requirements of a project. This was the daily routine of Jegede, one such professional.

However, in 2022, his experience of construction took on a life of its own when he represented the University of Bolton at the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) Northwest Hub’s Tomorrow’s Leaders Student Challenge. Themed “Carbon,” the competition pulled students into a discussion about one of the construction industry’s important concerns, which is how to reduce the environmental impact of buildings and infrastructure.

“I saw that challenge as a window to connect the practical experience with a subject that was becoming more prominent in construction education and professional practice,” Jegede added. Like other professionals he thought about how construction professionals can continue to deliver safe, durable and functional structures while paying greater attention to the carbon emissions associated with the materials and processes they use.

“It opened my eyes to the concept of embodied carbon and how decisions made at the design and material selection stages can influence a project’s overall environmental impact. It made me think differently about the industry. I began to see that delivering a successful project should not only mean completing it on time, within budget and to the required quality, but also considering its long-term impact on the environment.”

Jegede’s participation in the competition placed him within this evolving conversation, thanks to his experience of practical construction and his academic engagement with the environmental challenges facing the industry.

Beyond strength and structural performance
One of the significant connections between Jegede’s site experience and the competition’s theme lies in the relationship between technical performance and environmental responsibility. On a construction project, compressive strength testing helps determine whether concrete meets specified requirements. However, meeting those requirements does not, by itself, establish the environmental impact of the material.

Evaluating soil bearing capacity and checking pile integrity address essential questions about foundations and structural performance. Considerations of embodied carbon introduce further questions about the materials, resources and processes involved in delivering those elements.

This does not mean that environmental considerations replace engineering requirements. Rather, they add another dimension to the decisions construction professionals are expected to understand.

For site engineers and other construction practitioners, this can involve recognising how material quantities, avoidable waste, transportation and rework contribute to a project’s environmental footprint.
The challenge’s focus on carbon provided an opportunity to examine construction through this broader perspective, linking the technical realities of the building site with the environmental implications of industry practice.

The experience and its wider significance
Jegede’s participation in the CIOB Tomorrow’s Leaders Student Challenge formed part of a professional journey that connected construction practice in Nigeria with academic engagement in the United Kingdom. This was an experience that showed how construction professionals can experience sustainability through environmental theory and also through the practical decisions that shape the delivery of buildings and infrastructure.

The significance of embodied carbon lies partly in this connection. Reducing the environmental impact of construction requires more than an understanding of carbon emissions as a general concept. It also requires professionals to recognise where those emissions arise and how decisions within their respective roles may influence them.

For a construction industry seeking to address its environmental impact, that understanding is relevant to the next generation of professionals entering the sector.

“It was from that competition that I was able to engage with these questions while representing the University of Bolton,” he admitted. Viewed against his earlier experience on Lagos construction sites, it also brought into focus the expanding scope of construction practice, where the demands of structural performance and project delivery more and more intersect with environmental considerations.

As embodied carbon continues to feature in discussions about sustainable construction, Jegede has become a firm believer in the fact that what professionals learn in the classroom and what they encounter on site remains central to preparing them for the industry’s changing demands.